This invention relates generally to plant injectors and more particularly to a reusable, pressurized tree injector. For several reasons it is often desirable to treat diseases, nutrient deficiencies, growth problems, or insect infestations of plants, particularly trees, by direct injection into the plant of treatment fluids, such as nutriment, antibiotics, growth regulators, or systemic pesticides. Because the fluids used may be toxic to humans or animals or otherwise harmful to plants not undergoing treatment, the laws frequently require that the applicator remain in close proximity to the plant during the treatment process, in order to guard against spills or other accidents, even though the treatment process could otherwise be out carried out unattended from a technical standpoint.
Accordingly, the prior art has developed several devices to speed the application process by using pressurized injection. One known type of injection equipment comprises a bulk tank containing the treatment fluid, pressurized by gas or by a pump, with the fluid being delivered through an injection gun or nozzle. However, this type of equipment is heavy, inconvenient to move around, and expensive. To address these shortcomings, several types of prior art disposable injectors have been developed, comprising a small pressurized capsule of treatment fluid with a needle. An injector of this type may be set into a hole in a tree and left for the injection process to complete while other injectors are set in other trees. However, disposable injectors are wasteful of materials because they cannot be reused or adequately cleaned prior to disposal.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a portable, reusable, pressurizable plant injector.
It is another object of the invention to provide a fluid injector with controlled dispensing.